5 Peanut Butter & Jelly Variations for Field Trip Lunches (+ Tips)

I can’t believe that back to school is already right around the corner! Crazy how this summer flew by so fast. I guess it’s true what they say, time does fly when you’re having fun!

At the beginning of every school year, our kids’ teachers dutifully ask if we want to help out and volunteer during the year (and how often, which I love that they ask that). I always love to do whatever I can to help out at school.

I often end up going on field trips with the kids (except, apparently my oldest decided last year – third grade – that he was too cool to have his mom tag along now… boooooo.)

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Field trips are my favorite!

The kids are so excited to go on a trip, any trip really. I don’t think they really care where they go. The bus ride there is most of the adventure.

And eating a lunch in a park somewhere is always the perk they love the most.

Field trips are a little different than regular school days though. There are a few obstacles they don’t normally have:

There’s no refrigeration on the bus. And it’s likely to be sitting out on a hot bus for hours…

There’s no microwave available to heat anything up.

I’ve done a little asking around and searching and am getting prepared for the upcoming field trips this year will bring.

First of all, a couple of tips for field trip lunches:

Include an ice pack; if not possible, freeze their drink before packing.

Use packaged food like GoGo squeeZ® applesauce (still 100% fruit and no artificial ingredients). I like it for ease on my end and my child’s end for eating and no lost dishes. It also keeps without needing to be cold.

My kids always pick peanut butter and jelly for their lunches. It’s always easy for me, because nothing is perishable and it can sit out for hours.

We decided to try out some peanut butter alternatives that we could pack for field trip lunches!

5 alternatives to Peanut Butter & Jelly:

Choose your favorite nut butter (ours is good ol’ natural creamy peanut butter) & use a pouch of Great’full Grape GoGo squeeZ® applesauce in place of any of the Jellies listed. It works great and they’re 100% fruit, with no artificial ingredients, and a taste that kids absolutely love.

For field trips, I always pack everything in sandwich baggies so everything can be thrown away after it’s eaten. The only thing that should be left when they come home is the lunch box itself.

And just a reminder for safety:

From FoodSafety.com: Avoid high-risk foods including meat (unless it’s dried meat), dairy products like soft cheese, and anything that you would expect to find in the grocery store’s refrigerated section.

What do your kids ask to have in their lunchbox?

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We do a lot of turkey & cheese wraps for lunches at school. We have to use ice packs, but they seem to keep everything cold. In addition, we do carrot sticks and ranch, pears, strawberries, cookies and pirate’s booty on a typical day.

Our 14 year old eats from Ala Carte every day, but I often pack our 7 year old and 4 year old daughters lunch and snacks. They always ask for lunch meat and cheese cubes, fruit, gummies or fruit rollup, popcorn, juice box, and sometimes they even ask for a salad and carrot sticks!

My granddaughter is a big fan on Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches so she often asks for it in her lunch bag but she also likes the occasional Turkey and cheese sandwich. GoGo SqueeZ is another favorite of hers as is any type of fruit flavored Yogurt. Apples and/or Grapes and fruit juice and/or water are also included in her school lunches.

My daughter loves getting leftovers! Today I packed last night’s Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie in her Thermos. My son has a lot of food allergies and sensitivities (unfortunately to a lot of fresh fruit and veggies) so he requests Creamy & J sandwiches (cream cheese and jelly) and things like fruit snacks or GoGo Squeez pouches.

My son has been begging me to get “Lunchables Uploaded” for his lunchbox since kindergarten (Haven’t bought them yet – ha ha), but he also loves turkey, cheese, crackers, fruit leather, and protein bars in his lunch.

My kids always ask for something sweet but I hate packing sugary foods that don’t give them anything nutritional. So I have been getting creative and trying freeze dried fruits, yogurt with granola and fruit, etc. The go go squeeze are great too and now they have veggie and fruit ones!

Love the way the kids can make their own sandwiches at school or the park on the go or wherever this is a wonderful idea and gets rid of gooey itchy sandwiches that get thrown away what a wonderful idea!

My daughter loves peanut butter and jelly wraps, turkey and cheese sandwiches, soup, and salads in her lunches. She often take bags of carrots, apple slices, or celery. She often takes go go squeezes also.

My child has to have a turkey wrap with humus spread and cucumbers he loves them . I cut them into half s. He also has to have his go-gurt and what I do is I freeze them that way they stay cold. The kids also like them frozen in a hot day.

My daughter is a huge fan of Nutella and asks for it every single day in some form, for her lunch box! Sometimes she wants it on her sandwich, sometimes with some strawberries, or even with pretzels to dip!

My son always wants sushi in his lunchbox! So whenever we have leftover rice from the previous night’s dinner, I roll it up in a nori wrap (we keep them on hand) with random stuff like lunchmeat and cheese or some chicken salad or fresh veggies!

Luckily my little guy isn’t afraid of veggies. Right now he loves the veggie straws TOO much so I require a mix. Trader Joe’s sells crunchy broccoli florets so I give him 50/50 mix. Anything crunchy is game so sometimes I add crunchy chickpeas.

My kids like jerky, pepperoni sticks, popcorn, fruits like apples, bananas, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, and lots of fun snacks like fruit roll ups, Cheez-Its, Goldfish crackers, grahams, etc. My son likes either protein bars or pb&j sandwiches. My daughter prefers sandwiches with meat and cheese, on the days when she has access to a refrigerator, or a good cold pack.

My son loves juice boxes in his lunchbox. I also make sure to give him fruits or veggies, likes grapes and carrots. Even if he doesn’t eat everything at lunch, he’ll eat it later for an after school snack.

My daughter consistently asks that I include grapes in her lunch box – those are by far her favorite thing to eat! Other popular requests include, muffins, melon, granola bars, peanuts, and applesauce pouches. Fortunately she will generally eat whatever I give her!

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